[godlessgrrl]

I could probably make some totally tasteless remark about filling one's "god-shaped hole" with the Jackhammer Jesus, but I won't.

[Multifarious Bird Lady]

dichotomy, on 09 March 2010 - 12:47 PM, said:

Perhaps my constant angst, anxiety and uncertainty within me, that lingers and shows itself when I have a quiet moment is causing me to look for something to replace god/church with, or maybe my subconscious expectation that I have this *hole* that needs to be filled but can't find anything to fill it is the cause of this angst?

In my case the angst was due to being left in complete uncertainty with respect to what was true, whether there was any meaning in my life anymore, what would happen when I died, what would happen if I was wrong, etc. Going from a belief system where you were assured that everything would be OK if you just believed in Jesus to... well, no assurance of anything whatsoever... was very disorienting and anxiety-provoking. And sure, experiences like this can certainly be exploited by Christians to try to draw you back...

Getting used to that uncertainty is what helped for me. And finding the answers that I could find, even if they weren't absolutely certain.

florduh, on 09 March 2010 - 08:38 PM, said:

Addictive personalities never are "cured." The religion addiction story reminds me of my FIL who hadn't smoked for 20 years, but he said a day didn't go by that he didn't still want a cigarette. I quit smoking once and after a year I still wanted a cigarette, but dropping Christianity was easy for some reason. I never second guess myself on that one.

Hmm... I am still a religious person, but Pagan, and I fully admit that I can't know for sure whether the things I suspect might be true really are. Am I so addicted to religion that I just can't give it up? I'm not sure, but I don't think so.

[dB-Paradox]

gwenmead, on 12 March 2010 - 09:53 PM, said:

I could probably make some totally tasteless remark about filling one's "god-shaped hole" with the Jackhammer Jesus, but I won't.

Have you seen the shirt that says, "Jesus loves me, but I make him wear a condom" I'm a dude, so I'm not interested in that shirt, but I still think it's damn funny! There's a whole slew of them on that site.